Birthday (A Few Days Late)

Celeste managed to stretch out her birthday for quite a while. First my mother was in town in late August, then there was the extended Labor Day Birthday Marathon with Evelin's family, and then some cards and gifts arrived Tuesday, and yesterday Celeste's favoritest present of the season arrive — a Little People school bus.

Celeste got started with Little People at Christmas, when my folks got her the farm playset. Since then, I've picked up a few other animal-oriented sets here and there as well as scored some good second-hand figures/animals/vehicles at the thrift store.

In Celeste's Little People world, the animals are the stars. The dogs and chickens are the only ones who drive the cars and tractors, and the other animals are the only ones who get to play. The few human figures she has pretty much stay in the toy drawer. (On Saturday, her cousin, K---, wanted Maggie or Sonja Lee to drive the blue car; Celeste protested very loudly.) Maybe we read her Farmer Duck a little too often.

Yesterday, however, she got the school bus from a friend, and Carlos the Bus Driver is being allowed (for the moment at least) to occasionally drive the bus. The dogs, chickens and pig get to do all the riding, however. I pulled out more people for her, but apparently they only got a ride straight back to the toy drawer.

[UPDATE: This afternoon, Celeste decided that, while the dogs and chickens are at school (or at least on the bus), the rabbits can drive the cars and the goose can drive the tractors. Hoofstock of any sort, however, is not allowed to ride the bus or in the back of the trucks.]

Other cool presents include her Do·A·Dot Art paint set from my folks and some dřevěné výroba wooden puzzles from Karel Makovský – Dřevovýroba that Evelin's parents picked up during their trip to Central Europe last month. The dog is cool, but Celeste is spending more time working on the car (which might have been from a different craftsman, because I can't find it on the Makovský site). She also wants us to open the boy, but it's being saved for Quinn.

The bubble mower we got her was a little disappointing; it doesn't really bubble well, but Celeste likes the noise and pushing it ... or at least she did when she first got it. I don't think it's been used much since then.

The bus on the other hand is in her hands constantly. Before naptime, she was busy holding it up to show Quinn: "Quinn see Celeste bus! Quinn see!"

We don't have a good cake story for this year, although Celeste definitely understands what cake is now. Last night, after her bath, she said, "Celeste want birthday cake."
Technorati tags: toddler toy birthday